Present embodiments relate generally to the field of drilling and processing of wells, and, more particularly, to a system and method for circulating mud or other fluid during insertion and removal of drillpipe elements into and out of a wellbore during drilling operations and the like.
In conventional oil and gas operations, a drilling rig is used to drill a wellbore to a desired depth using a drill string, which includes drillpipe, drill collars and a bottom hole drilling assembly. During drilling, the drill string may be turned by a rotary table and kelly assembly or by a top drive to facilitate the act of drilling. As the drill string progresses down hole, additional drillpipe is added to the drill string.
During drilling of the well, the drilling rig may be used to insert joints or stands (e.g., multiple coupled joints) of drillpipe into the wellbore. Similarly, the drilling rig may be used to remove drillpipe from the wellbore. As an example, during insertion of drillpipe into the wellbore by a traditional operation, each drillpipe element (e.g., each joint or stand) is coupled to an attachment feature that is in turn lifted by a traveling block of the drilling rig such that the drillpipe element is positioned over the wellbore. An initial drillpipe element may be positioned in the wellbore and held in place by gripping devices near the rig floor, such as slips. Subsequent drillpipe elements may then be coupled to the existing drillpipe elements in the wellbore to continue formation of the drill string. Once attached, the drillpipe element and remaining drill string may be held in place by an elevator and released from the gripping devices (e.g., slips) such that the drill string can be lowered into the wellbore. Once the drill string is in place, the gripping devices can be reengaged to hold the drill string such that the elevator can be released and the process of attaching drillpipe elements can be started again. Similar procedures may be utilized for removing drillpipe from the wellbore. These procedures are generally referred to as tripping in and tripping out, respectively.
It is now recognized that certain aspects of these existing techniques are inefficient because of various limitations (e.g., environmental limitations) during certain phases of operation. For example, the speed at which drillpipe is inserted and removed into and from the wellbore may be limited due to pressure and/or vacuum forces created within the wellbore during insertion and removal of the drillpipe. These variations in pressure can cause the well to frack when the pressure is increased and cause the well to kick under lower pressure scenarios.